a. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of coating a surface, in particular to a method of coating a surface of metal objects to provide a highly reflective surface finish. This method is particularly intended for use in the powder coating industry.
b. Related Art
It is often desirable when producing an object to provide the surface of the object with a highly reflective surface finish. There are several different ways in which such a highly reflective finish can currently be achieved.
Polishing the surface of the object can provide a highly reflective finish, but it is time consuming to produce an acceptable finish and such a finish may be easy scratched or damaged. Electro-plating the surface of an object with a reflective metallic finish, such as chrome plating, can also provide such a finish, but is energy intensive and often involves hazardous chemicals. Electro-plated objects are also vulnerable to the plating layer being chipped or otherwise accidentally removed. It is also known to use a vacuum metallisation process to deposit a layer of metal onto the surface of the object to provide a highly reflective finish, but this involves specialised vacuum metallisation equipment to create the low pressures required and this specialist equipment increases the cost of the process.
It is further known to use a flake pigment in a liquid medium which is sprayed onto a surface and which sets as a binder within the liquid medium binds the flake together and to the surface. The flake content of such liquids is typically above about 1% by weight of the mixture to ensure good coverage of the surface by the flake.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a more convenient method and composition for coating a surface of an object.